


To Appreciate

by OmgPandi



Series: Ferdibert 2020 Birthday Bash Fics [1]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: (he doesn't realize how much everyone loves and cares for him), Birthday Fluff, But definitely not the main focus btw, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Black Eagles Route, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Happy birthday Hubert!, Oblivious Hubert von Vestra, Platonic Relationships, Some lowkey Ferdibert, Surprise Party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:00:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23695057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OmgPandi/pseuds/OmgPandi
Summary: Lately, however, it seemed that the rest of the Black Eagle Strike Force was acting… strangely.---or, the Black Eagle Strike Force is up to something and Hubert doesn't know what's going on.Written for the Ferdinand & Hubert Birthday Bash! Happy birthday, Hubert! <3
Relationships: Hubert von Vestra & Everyone, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: Ferdibert 2020 Birthday Bash Fics [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1715971
Comments: 4
Kudos: 50
Collections: Ferdibert Birthday Bash 2020





	To Appreciate

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY 3RD FAVORITE FIRE EMBLEM MAGE <3 Love that goblin man and he deserves to be loved and appreciated by the rest of the Strike Force as well. Also please ignore the title I know it's awful sjxnxnxjx
> 
> Takes places roughly two years after the Black Eagles class confronts Rhea and the others outside the monastery and Byleth goes missing. It's only mentioned a few times, but I thought it would be good to have for reference since Byleth doesn't appear in this fic. Also for my own sake, Hubert and Ferdinand's B support convo already happened!
> 
> Enjoy! <3

Hubert felt like something was amiss.

As Minister of the Imperial Palace, it was his job to know the comings and goings of anyone that stepped foot in the Imperial Palace. Now that they were two years into a war, his job was more important than ever in order to protect Lady Edelgard from any possible harm.

Lately, however, it seemed that the rest of the Black Eagle Strike Force was acting… strangely.

It started with Hubert walking into the Imperial Library to see Linhardt and Caspar sitting closely, heads bowed low as they whispered something to each other.

Hubert couldn’t recall the last time he saw Caspar anywhere near a library--whether it was here in Enbarr or back at the monastery, let alone actually _whispering_.

Narrowing his eyes, Hubert moved closer, making a point to keep his steps quiet. As he got closer, he could begin to hear what they were talking about.

“...and that’s what we need to- Oh hey! Hubert!” Caspar exclaimed, sitting up suddenly. He had a large grin on his face, although Hubert could see the nervous strain.

“Hello,” Linhardt drawled, still slumped over in his seat. “What brings you here?”

“Lady Edelgard asked me to find a specific tome on war tactics for her,” Hubert answered, raising an eyebrow at them. “I could ask you the same. Linhardt’s presence makes sense, but Caspar…”

“Hey!” Caspar exclaimed, offense clear. Linhardt rested a hand on his shoulder, which seemed to calm the rowdy man down.

“I needed Caspar’s help to get a tome down from one of the shelves,” Linhardt answered, looking bored.

Hubert wanted to remind the two that Linhardt was still taller than Caspar, but he didn’t want to bother pointing out the obvious lie. Judging by Caspar’s nervous glances towards Linhardt and the other man’s poker face, it was obvious that they knew.

“I see,” Hubert decided to settle with, walking over to the shelf with the tome he needed. “Enjoy your afternoon.”

“You too, Hubert!” Caspar yelled. Hubert heard Linhardt mumble something similar before the mage settled his head back down on the table.

_‘Suspicious,’_ Hubert thought, returning to his Lady’s chambers. _‘Suspicious indeed.’_

* * *

The next incident happened a few days after his run-in with Caspar and Linhardt.

Normally, he wouldn’t find Bernadetta’s sneaking around at night to be odd. The young woman would do the same back at Garreg Mach, usually grabbing some sort of midnight snack from the kitchen.

The only reason Hubert went down to the kitchens was to make himself a cup of his coffee. He had paperwork that needed to be finished and, despite Lady Edelgard’s stern expression telling him to _‘try and get a good night’s rest’_ , Hubert knew this couldn’t be ignored until the morning. He had a full morning and afternoon dedicated to other duties.

It was late at night--late enough that none of the kitchen staff would be available. Naturally, this was why Hubert was surprised to walk down the hall leading to the kitchen and seeing the candles lit the closer he got.

Pausing, Hubert mentally went down his list of possible reasons why someone would be in the kitchen this late at night. Having personally vetted a majority of the staff, Hubert tentively crossed off an assassination plot from his list. Not like anyone would be stupid enough to do it while Hubert was around, especially with his spies lurking in every corner.

The image of Professor Manuela grabbing a midnight glass of wine briefly crossed his mind before he remembered that the woman was out on a date according to a report he received ten minutes ago of one of his spies seeing her being led down Enbarr’s streets with a palace guard. The possibility of the date ending that quickly seemed too cruel, even to Hubert.

He doubted it was any of the other members of the Strike Force, save Ferdinand who--hypocritically--was somewhat of a workaholic as well. He could already hear the younger man’s chastising about getting _‘a good night’s rest in order to have a more productive next day’_. Secretly, he hoped it was Ferdinand just so he could throw the lecture back in the amber-haired man’s face.

Admitively, he shouldn’t have been surprised to see short, purple hair instead of Ferdinand’s continuously growing amber hair.

Stepping quietly into the kitchen, he saw Bernadetta flipping through some sort of book, mumbling to herself as she seemed engrossed in whatever she was reading.

“Bernadetta,” Hubert called out, earning a startled noise from the young woman. “What are you doing up this late?”

“H-Hubert!” Bernadetta exclaimed, quickly turning to face him. Her body, however, was positioned to block the book she was reading. “Oh… you know… just thought I’d grab myself something to eat! Yup! Just that!”

Narrowing his eyes in suspicion, Hubert took careful steps closer to the increasingly nervous young woman. “Then why do you have that book with you?”

“Book? What book? I don’t know what book you’re talking about!” She said quickly, nervous laughter trailing after.

“The one you’re obviously hiding behind you,” Hubert deadpanned, giving her an exasperated look.

“I don’t have a book hiding behind me,” she denied, eyes nervously darting around the room. “Maybe you’re seeing things. All that time spent lurking in the dark is probably ruining your eyes.”

Hubert hummed and he watched in amusement as Bernadetta realized just how casual she acted around him. “Eeep! I need to get back- Goodnight Hubert!” She exclaimed, grabbing the book (which she _still_ tried to hide) and running out of the kitchen as though there was a large wolf chasing after her. She didn’t bother cleaning up some of the items that were left behind, however.

Blinking a few times, Hubert stared at the spot Bernadetta stood, walking over to it and examining the counter. There was a vile of some sort of liquid resting near the bag of flour, which immediately raised some flags in Hubert’s mind. Quickly, he opened the vile and smelled the contents, recoiling when he was hit with the strong scent of vanilla.

“At least it’s not poison,” Hubert muttered, placing the closed vile back on the counter. The rest of the items looked harmless enough, but Hubert supposed he should have a word with Bernadetta about leaving the eggs out. Putting them back in their usual spot, Hubert made a mental note to talk to her about it. They were in the middle of a war after all and wasting food was deserving of some sort of reprimand.

He sighed, reaching for the cabinet above and grabbing his preferred coffee blend. Looking inside, he noticed the coffee beans were running low and made a mental note to have one of his staff members purchase more. According to Vivian, he was quite scary when he didn’t have the right amount of coffee before he began his work day.

Grinding the beans, he grabbed one of the coffee cups set aside for him and began making his drink. For now, he would leave the matter with Bernadetta alone. He had paperwork that needed finishing and he had all day tomorrow to track the elusive woman down and remind her about preserving food properly.

* * *

“What do you think, Hubie? Is this color good?” Dorothea asked, grabbing one of the fabrics off the rack for Hubert to examine. It was a dark purple color, nearly black in the lighting. “It’s not too bad, is it?”

“I suppose not,” he answered, frowning in confusion. The woman took it as a confirmation though and asked the fabric saleswoman for a long roll of it.

A week after the incident with Bernadetta, Dorothea had hunted him down and dragged him out of the Imperial Palace. Whatever Dorothea had planned clearly had Lady Edelgard’s blessings, for the young woman didn’t bother stopping the songstress. She even cheerfully wished them a good trip before returning her attention to the papers spread out on her desk.

For whatever reason, Dorothea had dragged him away from work to do _shopping_ of all things.

“Excellent,” Dorothea said cheerfully, handing the woman the appropriate amount of money before she gave one of the guards accompanying them the fabric to carry. The man looked mildly confused, but complied with the unspoken request. “Next is the tailor’s shop!”

“Might I ask why we’re doing this?” Hubert drawled, sighing when all he received was a secretive smile from Dorothea. “Fine then, but I need to go back to the Palace soon. Lady Edelgard has a meeting around three o’clock today and it’s imperative that-”

“Don’t worry, Hubie, I’ll make sure you’re back in time to glare at any of those stuffy nobles that try arguing with Edie,” Dorothea teased. “I promise this will be quick! I just need to confirm something with the tailor and then we can be on our way.”

“That’s what you said nearly thirty minutes ago,” Hubert muttered once the woman was out of earshot. The guard followed her into the tailor, but not before casting Hubert a concerned look, like the man didn’t know if he should leave a seemingly unarmed Minister of the empire alone. Little did the guard know that Hubert kept knives on his person at all times, so he was hardly the defenseless mage that the man likely thought him to be.

Deciding to join the two, Hubert walked inside the shop and tried not to balk at the ostentatious clothes that decorated the space.

_‘This looks like stuff Lorenz would wear,’_ Hubert thought, thinking of the last time he saw the nobleman and the _purple armor_ he wore. He could still hear Ferdinand and Lorenz obnoxiously complementing each other in the back of his mind during the man’s diplomatic visit to Enbarr.

“So will it be possible?” Dorothea asked, talking to the owner of the shop. The fabric she bought was placed on the man’s counter, rolled out as the man examined it. “It’s very important that it’s completed by- Oh! Hello Hubie! Tired of glaring at people as they passed by?”

“Hilarious,” Hubert said monotonously, which earned a laugh from the woman and nervous glances from the other two occupants in the room. “If you must know, the heat was starting to get uncomfortable.”

“That’s what you get for wearing nothing but black,” she said, as if she didn’t wear a black dress the other day and complained the entire time about it. Turning her attention back to the tailor, she asked, “So will it be possible?”

“It should be,” the man answered, giving her a confident smile. “Do you have the measurements available or…?”

Smiling, Dorothea reached into her bag and took out a slip of paper, handing it off to the man. He thanked her, grabbing the fabric and bringing it to the back of the room, calling out that he would have it ready within the week, which seemed to please Dorothea greatly.

“There,” she said, smiling at Hubert. “Now we can leave. Thank you for coming with me!”

It wasn’t like he had much of a choice with the strong grip Dorothea had on his arm earlier, but he gave her a curt nod in response anyhow.

As they made their way back, he noticed that Dorothea seemed immensely pleased with how the shopping trip went. If he had to guess, she managed to grab a nice fabric for whatever gown she was having tailored. He tried to recall if there were any upcoming events that called for a new wardrobe, but nothing was scheduled any time soon.

* * *

“Hubert, I have a question for you.”

It took Hubert a few moments to realize that the words weren’t spoken in the Common Tongue, but Brigidian instead. Looking up from his book, he saw Petra standing next to him, a serious look on her face.

“Yes?” He asked, sticking to the language. Over the last two years, Hubert has noticed the young woman make leaps and bounds in learning the Fódlan language--primarily, the dialect spoken in Adrestia--but still struggled when it came to certain words and phrases.

Hubert had already planned on learning Brigidian in the event that one of Petra’s people would plot something behind their princess’ back, so it was of no consequence to him when Lady Edelgard asked the Strike Force to try and pick up on the language as well for Petra’s comfort and sake.

“It is to my understanding that you were born during the Ram Season, yes?” Petra asked, taking a seat in the unoccupied chair across from him.

“I believe so,” he answered. Astrology wasn’t something he was particularly interested in, but Hubert did remember one of Lady Edelgard’s sisters--Juliana, he thinks--being obsessed with the topic all those years ago. He remembered her mentioning something about Hubert being connected to the ram, but the memory was old and Hubert didn’t, admitively, want to go down that road right now.

Petra nodded, giving Hubert a grateful smile. “Excellent, that’s wonderful to know! It will make everything a lot easier.”

“Make what easier?” he asked, already feeling weary.

“The Ram Season is the beginning of the wheel, as well as the season of renewal,” Petra stated, ignoring his question. “Back in Brigid, those born during this time of year are considered skilled warriors due to their passion and determination. While you aren’t quite as cheerful as most Rams, I do believe you fit the passionate and determinate traits.”

“Thank you?” He felt unsure of what to make of that. “That doesn’t quite answer my question though.”

“I must be on my way now,” Petra said, getting up from her seat with a fire burning in her eyes. “Thank you Hubert for confirming this with me.”

With that, she left quickly, nearly running into one of the guards passing by the doorway. She gave him a quick apology in the Common Tongue before rushing off again, muttering something under her breath in her native language.

The guard blinked, turning to face Hubert, but flinched and walked away quickly when he saw the irritated look on his face.

Yet another weird occurrence, Hubert thought. Linhardt, Caspar, Bernadetta, and even Dorothea made sense, but Hubert didn’t expect Petra to be acting strangely as well. The young woman was one of their more sensible members, after all.

For now, he would ignore it. He had a passage that he needed to finish reading before the meeting he had scheduled today.

* * *

“Hubert, why don’t we take a break for now,” Lady Edelgard said, setting her papers and quill down on her desk.

“Of course,” Hubert complied, standing to attention. “Do you have anything in mind?”

A glint of something flashed in his Lady’s eyes before it disappeared quickly, replaced by a soft smile on her face.

“Actually, I do,” she responded, walking towards the doors. “I would greatly appreciate it if you accompanied me as well.”

“Yes, Lady Edelgard.”

The pair walked down the hall, guards standing to attention and saluting when Lady Edelgard passed them. She gave them a short acknowledgement and Hubert felt pride at the sight of Lady Edelgard having the respect she rightfully deserved.

“Ah, here we are,” she said, stopping in front of a pair of large double doors.

Stepping forward, Hubert opened the doors for his Lady, ushering her inside.

Only to be bombarded by the sound of cheers.

“What the-” Hubert said, startled by the sight of the rest of the Strike Force standing around the room, each wearing large grins on their face. “What… is going on?”

“What does it look like, silly?” Dorothea asked, gesturing to the decorations and the cake resting innocently on the table. Bernadetta stood near it, fidgeting in her spot. “You do remember what today is, right?”

Hubert blinked, trying to remember if he was missing something. Judging by the teasing looks on Dorothea and Lady Edelgard’s faces, he apparently did.

“It’s your birthday, dude!” Caspar exclaimed, cheerfully grinning as he came over to pat Hubert on the shoulder. “Don’t tell us you really forgot!”

“Um,” Hubert said, unsure of how exactly he should feel.

“Forgive us,” Lady Edelgard laughed, smiling warmly at him. “We know how busy you’ve been these last few weeks and we wanted to surprise you with this.”

“A surprise party,” Hubert repeated, feeling dazed. “For _me_?”

“But of course!” Ferdinand exclaimed, stepping through the double doors. His face looked red, like he just got back from one of his morning rides despite the fact that it was the middle of the afternoon. “Today is April 17th, after all! We would be rather remiss to ignore you on this day!”

“Here you go,” Linhardt said, placing a gift on the table in front of him. “It’s the newest volume detailing the history of Fódlan. I remember you reading them a lot when we attended the monastery.”

“Here’s my gift too!” Caspar yelled, also placing his gift down next to Linhardt’s gift. “I wasn’t sure what to get you, so I hope you don’t mind a new board game. I saw a couple of the soldiers playing it and it looked fun!”

Before Hubert could say anything, Dorothea bounced over, holding up her gift for Hubert to see. Instantly, he recognized it as the outfit she had ordered from the tailor not too long ago. “I don’t think this one needs much of an explanation, but I thought you might like a new jacket! It even comes with a cape!” She said excitedly, showing off the garment.

“I-” Hubert started, feeling overwhelmed.

“I-I made you a cake,” Bernadetta said shyly, gesturing to the cake resting on the table next to her. “It’s vanilla with s-some coffee flavoring! I thought you might like it instead of the apple tart we were originally going to go with…”

“And I am gifting you this,” Petra said, holding up a new set of knives, already holstered into a leather strap. “It is to my understanding that you greatly appreciate knives such as these.”

“I… I don’t quite know what to say,” Hubert stated, looking around the room at everyone’s warm smiles.

“We just want you to feel appreciated, Hubert.” Turning to face Lady Edelgard, Hubert could see the understanding in her eyes, as well as the unbridled trust she had in him. “Which is why my gift to you is some time off. I know you don’t feel comfortable leaving your post, so I won’t ask you to leave Enbarr if you don’t wish, but I do want you to spend some time enjoying things you like to do.” Beaming at him, she continued, “You’ve certainly earned it for all your hard work these past two years.”

“Lady Edelgard…” Hubert murmured, face feeling flushed as he looked away.

Instead, his eyes met Ferdinand’s and Hubert was caught off-guard by the fond look on the man’s face.

“Unfortunately, my gift cannot be brought into the Palace,” Ferdinand said, nervously smiling at the man as he twirled a piece of his hair. Much like a few weeks ago, it was steadily growing out, reaching a little bit past Ferdinand’s shoulders now. “But nevertheless, I hope you like him!”

“Him?” Hubert repeated, puzzled.

“Yes! This has been in the works for a while, but my gift to you is a new mount!” Ferdinand explained, beaming at him.

Hubert blinked, processing the words before he said, “Wait, a new mount? As in a new _horse_?”

“Indeed!” Ferdinand nodded, pride clear on his face. “His name is Brutus and he’s a very well-tempered horse! He’s black as well and trained to handle combat on the field, especially of the magical variety.”

“A war horse,” Hubert repeated, ignoring the snickers he heard from Dorothea and Caspar. “You’re giving me a _war horse_?”

“I thought it was a rather practical gift,” Ferdinand said, brows furrowed in confusion. “Would you rather I bought you more of your Dagdan coffee? Because that’s also on it’s way if you-”

“No need to fret Ferdinand,” Lady Edelgard interrupted, placing a comforting hand on Hubert’s arm. “I’m very sure that Hubert likes his gifts, right Hubert?”

Hubert looked down to see the knowing smile on the shorter woman’s face and quickly looked away, eyes darting around the room to see similar expressions of everyone’s faces--all except Ferdinand, who looked immensely confused.

“Yes,” Hubert agreed, coughing in his hand. “I… greatly appreciate the gifts, Ferdinand.”

“Wonderful!” The amber haired man said, striding into the room now. “Then why don’t we continue this celebration?”

“Agreed,” Lady Edelgard said, shooting him one last quick smile before walking over to the others gathered around the cake. Bernadetta picked up the knife and began cutting into the cake, placing the individual slices on the plates being passed around.

“Hubie! Come and get your slice as well! Bernadetta put a lot of effort into making this!” Dorothea chastised, holding up his slice of cake in her other hand. He heard Bernadetta quick something out about it not being too much work, but the statement was ignored by the rest of the group.

Already, they were being loud and cheery. Caspar and Ferdinand were speaking loudly to each other about something, booming laughter echoing in the room while Linhardt stared at them with a judgemental look on his face. Dorothea and Lady Edelgard conversed about something--giggling to each other under their breaths. Petra was helping Bernadetta slice the rest of the cake into pieces for the others, softly saying something to her that caused the purple-haired girl’s face to redden a bit.

Despite the two years of war, unexpectedly losing the Professor during that siege against the monastery, and getting bogged down by what felt like stalemate after stalemate, it would seem that the others still found a way to be cheerful about something--even if it was something as mundane as his own date of birth, an event that was rarely celebrated in his family aside from marking another year of intense training in the art of assassination and spying.

Looking at the group in front of him, however, Hubert felt a warm enter him that hadn’t been there for quite some time. It was there before, festering unexpectedly during their time at Garreg Mach.

Hubert felt the slightest hint of a smile make its way onto his face, something that one of the others caught save for Lady Edelgard, who gave her own smile back. Her eyes spoke of the same sentiment she said earlier--communicating how much she appreciated him and everything he’s ever done for her over their many years together.

For now, Hubert would leave behind the thoughts of war and fighting beasts that didn’t have any right dictating their lives anymore. Right now, as Hubert took a bite of the coffee cake that Bernadetta made, he would allow himself to enjoy this time spent with the others. It was a rare moment of calm in their otherwise hectic lives and Hubert wanted to capitalize on it as well.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this! <3  
> You can also come talk to me over [@pandabuddha1](https://twitter.com/pandabuddha1) on Twitter about Ferdibert and Fire Emblem in general! <3


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